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About The Name

People ask me all the time about the name of my blog, Little Hollywood. Little Hollywood was the name of the shantytown down along the shores of what is now Capitol Lake, a place where some lively characters of Olympia lived. It was our "Hooverville" from the 1920s through the early 1950s. Well, as we know, our area has a lot of interesting, talented, educated characters, and the point of this blog is to help shine the light on some of our "stars" that might not ordinarily be heard through corporate media outlets. So, the name has a double meaning. And since it's my blog, it's Janine's Little Hollywood. Enjoy!

About Me

Thank you for visiting my blog! As a photographer, I also have a website, http://www.littlehollywoodphotography.com. I love Olympia and meet a lot of people who tell me great stories. I love to learn, and hope this blog of local news will be just another source of information for you. Please don't be shy to leave comments. I have set it up so the comments are private first, until I publish them, so if you don't want your comment published, just tell me so. And oh yeah, I'd appreciate it if corporate media or other news outlets did not steal my stories. Please ask if you'd like to reprint my story in your publication or at least give credit where credit is due if you read it here first. Associated Press standards consider blogs a legitimate news source and should be treated as such. Thank you!

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Above: Regional elected officials met last Wednesday evening at
Olympia City Hall to discuss sea level rise response planning efforts. Members of
Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater city councils, the Port of Olympia, Thurston
County, and the LOTT Clean Water Alliance were in attendance.

Regional elected officials met January 31 to discuss the threat of sea level
rise and began planning efforts to save downtown Olympia.

A sight rarely seen to discuss a singular issue, members of
Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater city councils, the Port of Olympia, Thurston
County, and the LOTT Clean Water Alliance were in attendance at
Olympia City Hall.

Over 100 assets in downtown Olympia have been identified and categorized and a plan for phasing in specific actions, with an eye toward long range strategies, will begin. Justin Vandever of AECOM, the consultant firm hired by the entities, presented the latest sea level rise science specific to downtown Olympia.

“We know the
science is going to change…every few years we’re going to get new information.
The likely sea level rise scenario will be 13 inches by 2050, and 36 inches by
the end of the century…but there’s a lot of uncertainty…the high range is 24
inches by 2050,” he said.

Reminding officials that Olympia is not alone, Vandever provided examples of other cities, port districts and water and wastewater treatment plant facilities that are also facing sea level rise challenges.Despite his
experience in working with various entities, Vandever said Olympia is unique and its plans and ideas need to be relevant
and flexible to the area, which includes three miles of shoreline.

Most of the graphics were overwhelming, eliciting a range of emotions, questions and comments.

Port of
Olympia Commissioner EJ Zita expressed her views on mitigation and adaptation.

“...Much of the
hometown we love is going to flood. We have no choice but to adapt. Meanwhile,
we can still make choices to mitigate - to slow or reduce climate change. By
choosing to encourage dense urban development, especially on higher ground, we can make transportation more efficient, and preserve farmland and open
spaces. By choosing renewables instead of coal in Washington State, we can make
electricity cleaner. And by installing more charging stations, we can electrify
vehicle transport.“Ports can
play a major role in mitigation. By
cancelling the biggest oil terminal in the U.S., the Port of Vancouver discouraged oil transport and burning. Our own Port
of Olympia could choose not to support fracking for fossil fuels,” she said.

Lacey Deputy Mayor Cynthia Pratt focused her concerns on
infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, fire and police stations, and the LOTT Cleanwater Alliance water and wastewater treatment plant.“The plant
represents a community investment of over $500 million dollars, and it is
critical infrastructure that is essential to the continued protection of public
health and our environment. It needs to be protected from sea level rise.”She said she often hears from Lacey residents that they don't have to deal with sea level rises issues and asked Mike Strub, executive director of the LOTT Cleanwater Alliance, to explain what the impact would be to Lacey.

“When Lacey toilets back up, then they will care,” he quipped. Quickly getting serious, however, Strub explained how sea level rise will impact the whole region.

“There will be an impact on all communities. The process (of inundation) would cause the system to shut down. The Budd Inlet Treatment Plant is the mothership of the treatment system. We can keep it going for a little while, but if we lose power, we can’t get water through the plant. It wouldn’t go anywhere. It would be a serious situation. It’s a fragile line. Once that’s crossed, there are serious consequences.

”Pratt, who serves as Lacey’s representative to the LOTT Board, elaborated on her concerns to Little Hollywood after the meeting:

“LOTT will
need to keep updating equipment, such as generators and pumps, which will add
costs to ratepayers. I think that is an important element for Lacey because
they don’t get the connection between us and Olympia’s “problem.” It’s an
out-of-sight, out-of-mind issue. Obviously, if LOTT fails, there will be
issues, but it also means that wastewater spills untreated into Budd Inlet....I truly think
this conundrum needs to be addressed in the outreach plan. It isn’t just an
Olympia, LOTT facility, Port problem but rather a system-wide issue.”

Olympia City
Councilmember Jessica Bateman asked several questions about Capitol Lake, and
the assumptions used, given the possibility it could revert back to an estuary. The state Department of Enterprise Services is responsible for lake management.

Andy Haub, City of Olympia water resources director for public works, responded that Capitol Lake is in the inundation
zone and the intent of a plan is to accommodate whatever Capitol Lake becomes.

Port of Olympia Commissioner Bill McGregor mentioned his concerns about the protection of Cascade Pole, the former wood-treating site on port property that requires an on-site
pumping and treatment system to remove contaminants from groundwater. He wondered why the state wasn’t involved in protecting its investment, since it has spent millions cleaning up the area. Haub admitted that Ecology nor the Department of Natural Resources has expressed interest.

Olympia City Councilmember Clark Gilman said it was hubris to try and defend what downtown looks like now and urged that environmental and social justice organizations be involved in the public planning process.City of Tumwater councilmember Tom Oliva asked about plans to finance sea level rise planning strategies.Haub said governing a financing plan will be hard to sustain for decades, and an umbrella organization, such as a levy or flood protection district, could be implemented.

Above: The nine-story Capitol Center Building in downtown Olympia is reflected in Capitol Lake. The artificial lake was
created in 1951 through the creation of a dam that impounds the Deschutes estuary. A hearing examiner recently approved a redevelopment project for the site that would add two new, 35 foot buildings. The proposed project is within 1,000 feet of Budd Inlet and Capitol Lake.

Clarification, February 8: Lacey Deputy Mayor is on the LOTT Board and serves as the board president.Little
Hollywood regularly writes about downtown Olympia sea level rise issues. For more articles, reports, and photos, go to
Little Hollywood, http://www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com, and type key
words into the search button.